THE EMPTINESS YOU ARE LOOKING FOR
INSIGHT MEDITATION
ACCORDING TO THE VISUDHIMAGGA PRINCIPLES
IN DHARMA PRACTICE
`CITTA’ IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR

Citta must be firmly established in Sati `Awareness’ Wisdom is used to control and to investigate causes and effects and whether or not to follow them according to their natural state as Vipassana is the foundation of Dharma practice in Buddhism.

In Part I of my previous book entitled Insight Meditation according to The Visudhimagga Principles I do hope that some of you who wish to practise, progress, understand Dharma and be happy in daily life at present or future may have benefited from my teaching. In Part II of my book ` Insight Meditation - Vipassana’ I would like to bring you deeper understanding of Dharma which is extremely fine and delicate so that some of you may wish to follow them in their Dharma practice.

This Dharma is extremely fine and delicate. It has developed from `Emptiness’ which is the highest Parama Dharma of Lord Buddha who has been wandering through 500 lives before attaining the Enlightenment. Lord Buddha was also entangled in the Circle of Life `Vattachack’. In his last life, he was born as Prince Siddhartha. He was married and had a child. He had sixty thousand concubines in some traditions. He had four castles; one for each season. He governed his Kingdom.

Prince Siddhartha had no emptiness. He had no time for himself. His daily life was most difficult and complicated. Because of all the difficulties and confusion surrounding his daily life, Prince Siddhartha was looking for a way out to escape from the endless worldly affairs and to have only emptiness which he called `Mokkha Dharma’. At present, it is known as Vipassana Meditation in Buddhism. When looking at some Dharma aspirants, we tend to see that they are looking for meditation, they want to practise meditation, they want to know meditation, they want to understand meditation, they want to have ability to meditate. As a result, they are looking for a place to sit and to meditate. Some would like to go to a temple and meditate while many other would like to enter a forest and meditate. Some are looking for a Guru while others would like to practice by themselves. These searchers and lookers are in themselves causing problems and confusion.

In reality, these days human beings are over-educated and over-informed. Like an old saying (literally) ` Throwing a stick over a bunch of mangoes’ and as a result, you loose your stick and cannot get any mango. The only thing you could do at that moment is simply looking at the mango again and again while your mouth is watering. Similarly, you have been looking for Dharma all over the places in so many life while Dharma is inside your physical body. When Dharma is in your body and you have been searching and looking outside and elsewhere how can you find Dharma why you are not looking at the right location. Like I said earlier, these looking and searching in themselves are causing problems and confusion.

Now I would like to tell you the truth about Dharma. Samadhi (concentration/meditation) is in fact in our physical body since the day we were born, but the problem is that we do not realise that it is inside our body or its whereabouts. Because of our ignorance (avijja) we then join the bandwagon of Dharma aspirants looking for Dharma in a forest, a temple or elsewhere. Again, these searching and looking are causing problems and confusion.

At this juncture, some of you may be wondering on what basis did I say that Samadhi is in our body. Samadhi is inside our body automatically since the day we were born. This means that when we were born everything in our body is complete. Our mind (Citta) is also complete. Our Sati (Awareness) is also complete. Similarly, when driving a car, you have done everything right along the way, as a result, you reach your destination safely as you originally planned. This means , the driver has the right Samadhi.

On the contrary, for someone who does not have Samadhi, this means, his mind (Citta) is disturbed or incomplete. It looks as if he is insane or he has lost his mind (Citta). As a consequence, he will speak, act, behave differently from others. He will not be able to do anything right, even to feed himself. This person has no Samadhi in his mind.

As for the other person who has done everything right, it means his mind is correct or completed. He is the one who has Samadhi automatically in his mind since the day he was born. Therefore, it is proper to say that Samadhi is within each and everyone of us, but we tend to look for Samadhi outside ourselves, for example, many of you have been searching for a Meditation Guru for a very long time. Again, like I said earlier, this searching and looking are in themselves causing problems, difficulties and confusion.

According to the teachings of Lord Buddha, Guru and Tripitaka teach and guide us towards Dharma principles. Dharma is a reality. Dharma is an emptiness. Dharma teaches us, causes and effects within the environment of a reality. Dharma is a text. Dharma is an emptiness. Dharma is formless (arupa) which cannot be touched physically, cannot be bought and sold, cannot be given, cannot be exchanged. Dharma is an emptiness. In Buddha era, if Dharma can be given, Lord Buddha could have given all of his Dharma to his disciples. But he could not as Dharma is formless and it is an emptiness. We have to keep practising vigorously to be able to see Dharma which is an emptiness. Only the ones who keep practising will see, know, understand, and feel Dharma which is an emptiness. Prior to his enlightenment, Lord Buddha had been searching for this emptiness for so many lives in this vattachack. If we keep looking for Dharma we will never be able to see Dharma. Because of this Lord Buddha has allowed us to sit and meditate to cleanse our Kilesa (greed).

Samadhi simply means sitting down and close your doors. Literally, your house has so many doors and windows, but your physically has only five doors which are:-

(1) Eyes

(2) Ears

(3) Nose

(4) Mouth and

(5) Mind (Citta).

When your eyes are closed, it means you have already closed one door. Your ears - close them off from all external noises. Your nose - investigate the breathing through your nostrils. Your mind - investigates the forms within yourself.

Since the day we were born, we do not even know how fine and delicate are our breathings? There are many aspects of our breathings such as short-long, deep-shallow, heavy-light, high-low and so on. We do not even know the functioning of our breathing and what reaction (feeling) do we get from each type of breathing. Dharma is much finer than realising and understanding one’s breathing. One cannot even understand one’s own breathing, how could he understand Dharma fully?

Accordingly, we have to sit and meditate (Vipassana Meditation) to give ourselves the opportunities to analyse our lives, to understand our breathing. While breathing in, say ‘BUD’, and chant ‘DHO’ while breathing out . These two words `BUD and DHO’ are `Puttanusati’. Realising the `Buddho’ Already Happy, Already Awakened, Already Understood’. What did we understand?

Understand `Rupa and Sankhara’ which are constantly changing - to be born, to get old, to be sick and to pass away - a circle of life which is endless and impermanent. In comparison with our Mind (Citta), our Mind is a Avarta. It never dies, but only our Rupa and Sankhara that pass away. Our Citta keeps on living.

I would like to give you an example about our Citta, during the day we are thinking of something seriously, at night when going to bed, we tend to dream about what we have thought about during the day. That is Citta which is an Avarta staying at the same place whereas as body keeps changing endlessly. When examining our body we understand. What do we understand?

We know human’ s Arrom (conditional stages):-

- To be born,

- To get old,

- To be sick,

- To pass away,

- To be happy and sad

- To be good and bad,

- To grow up and decay,

- To know oneself and others.

Once we understand our Citta is in a very fine and peaceful state where wisdom will develop. As a result we will then know `Sabhava Dharma’ - an environment where wisdom has occurred. The reason we are able to know Sabhava Dharma is because peace has occurred in our mind (Citta). Peace occurs because emptiness has occurred. Once emptiness has occurred, the mind (Citta) will rid itself of all greed (Kilesa) then the mind will be happy. An empty Citta (mind) is the supreme happiness (Boromasuka) which all of us have been looking for in our Vipassana Meditation in which Insight Meditation is the true foundation of all meditation in Buddhism which Lord Buddha practised and set an example for us to follow.

Whoever practices and follows these teachings, there is no doubt that he/she will be able to get rid of all sufferings (Dhukkha). However, before reaching this state of mind, we all have to keep practising it again and again until peace has occurred in our mind (Citta) - a state known as Dharma which has no physical body, which cannot be purchased. Why did I say Dharma cannot be purchased? For example, we are illiterate and have never been to school, but at present we want to be able to read and write fluently. We know someone who can read and write and we want to buy his/her ability to read and write, let say, by paying one million dollars. There is no way that we can buy his/her ability to read and write to help us to be able to read and write- regardless of its costs.

Because it is an emptiness. Every single alphabet like A,B,C, D, E have all been invented and assumed by human beings to be A, B, C, D, E which neither of them can be touched as all of them are empty. If we want to read and write we have to go to school and learn ourselves which is a reality and the reality is Dharma. Because of the reasons mentioned above that I said they cannot be bought and sold like materials. It is human beings that assume them be A, B, C, D, E and, in fact, they are empty. It is only a name given to each and everyone of them. Similarly, Dharma Principles are rules (codes of conduct) which Lord Buddha has allowed us to follow and practise within limit. Whoever follows and practises strictly and diligently these Dharma Principles he will undoubtedly knows Dharma - a State of Reality. This is why I said that Dharma is not an object which cannot be given to another person.

Dharma cannot be bought and sold like an object in a market place. If we want to know and understand Dharma we have to use our intelligence, our ability to practice Dharma. As long as we have a complete faith (Saddha) our mind (Citta) will enter into a state of `Parisuti Dharma which means our Citta is able to rid itself of all cravings (Kilesa), that is `Citta Parisuti and Sila Parisuti’ because we want to rid ourselves of all sufferings and be happy. This is the only way to escape from suffering and delusion.

In Buddhism, Vipassana Meditation is the foundation which we can practice and rid ourselves of all suffering. We have to keep practising and find way out of all attachments. All these is in Vipassana Meditation. We have to use our intelligence and wisdom when looking and searching for a way out. All of the suffering, discontentment, sadness, disappointment in our mind is just like someone in a middle of a burning house. If he is unable to find a way out from that burning house, he will get burnt and eventually die.

Fire is Raga. Fire is Kilesa. Fire is Tanha. These three types of Fire is Mokatti, Lokatti and Dhokatti. Fire burning in our Citta is Kilesa which is extremely dangerous and powerful above anything else. For example, when we look at someone robbing a bank or stealing or taking properties by cheating we tend to realise that the driving force behind these actions are greed. This greed transforms us to see things oppositely - Mistaken Right to be Wrong and Good to be Bad - like an Asian old saying that ‘ A Chakra is mistaken to be a Lotus’.

For these reasons, we are looking and searching for peace. Peace is Dharma and Dharma is an emptiness helping us to wipe out all the sufferings, problems and confusion. Once these have been wiped out, the only thing left in our Citta is happiness. However, this is not easy. We have to keep searching for an emptiness. Lord Buddha once said `Itcasaya Sanatiloko Ripahanena Sabhang Sibhattibhan Dhanang’ which literally means ` The world is tied up with greed. To be free, Greed must be destroyed. `Itcasanarang Parikatsati Itcasaro Katsami Dhutsaha Itcasabhandha Pudhu Satta Pasensaku Niyadha’ which means ‘Greed leads animals and human beings to Greed’. Greed is most difficult to eliminate. Human beings and animals are being tied together by greed. In other words we all are trapped by greed.

Where is the real principle of `Emptiness’? The real principle of an emptiness is Dharma. Our efforts to escape from sufferings as mentioned earlier are much more difficult and extremely hard. They are not simple as one might have thought. Like our Lord Buddha, he spent hundreds of lives in the `Vadhacak’ before attaining the Enlightenment. Like ourselves, we have carried out lots of act of charity (good karma, good deed, good action), we have promised to practise the Sila (Precepts), we have listened to Lord Buddha Teachings - all of these means we have been looking for or cultivating an emptiness in our Citta (mind) to find a way to escape from Dukkha and suffering which we have been entangled in our past and present lives. We have been drowning in an ocean of Dukkha and suffering. It is time for us to be awake, to get up and to listen to Lord Buddha Dharma and to understand Dharma. This is the way we have been looking for. This is the Peace that we have been searching for. We must never be careless. We have to use our intelligence and our wisdom. We have to keep practising. We must never give up. There is no doubt, one day we will attain real peace. This peace is ours. It cannot be bought and sold like an object. It cannot be given to anyone and no one is capable of giving it to us. It is an internal peace. It will not be lost or stolen once we attain it, but we must strictly guard it with our Sati and it will stay with us forever. We should be proud of it.

Do we know where does Kilesa come from? Who creates it? According to Buddhism, Kilesa comes from feeling (Arrom). Arrom creates `desire’. When we have a desire we take action.

We must have a dedicated mind in order to cultivate light in our mind. We must be patient and keep doing it until we able to know. What do we want to know? We want to know Kilesa - a most powerful force over our lives. We must be extremely careful. We must be able to keep it under our control instead of it controlling us. If we are careless, it will get us and it will win. There is no doubt about it whatsoever. Kilesa occupies a very significant role in our lives. Human beings all over the world are suffering because of this Kilesa. We endure difficulties, also because of this Kilesa. In a way, we are its slave as it has power over us.

If our Citta is under the control of a desire, we will be unable to do anything right. Therefore, we must attempt to try to find a way to eliminate the desire. We must keep trying and trying and never give up. Look at our Lord Buddha as an example, how many lives has he gone through before attaining Enlightenment

Buddhism is the religion of Lord Buddha. The word ‘BUD’ means `To know, to understand precisely what is right and what is wrong, what is appropriate or unappropriated, what is good and what is bad. It also means ‘Light’. All these originated from Prince Siddhartha who, later after attaining enlightenment by himself, became Lord Buddha. Lord Buddha is the one who brings light and peace to the `Five Worlds’ including the world of Hell.

The Five Worlds have unquestionably accepted and recognised Lord Buddha as the Supreme Teacher. At this stage, some of you might be wondering about the `Five Worlds’ and may like to know what they are. From my own experience and through vigorous meditation training and practice based on the Buddha Teachings, these Five Worlds were mentioned in Buddha Vacana (the Worlds of Buddha) and Lord Buddha has allowed his disciples to make reference to them.

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